


For him it's pocket change.

by Mystrothedefender



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: ;), Age Difference, I mean.... Harvey is 22 and ed is like... 35, M/M, Sugar Daddy AU, coffee shop AU, twiddler
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-12
Updated: 2020-05-29
Packaged: 2021-03-03 05:41:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,868
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24149902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystrothedefender/pseuds/Mystrothedefender
Summary: Harvey is a broke college kid making his way through law school, working at a job he hates. Luckily the regular customers are interesting, one in particular catches his eye.
Relationships: Harvey Dent & Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent & Selina Kyle, Harvey Dent/Edward Nygma, Selina Kyle & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 15
Kudos: 31





	1. Chapter 1

Harvey frowned as he searched for his shirt, mumbling under his breath and trying to retrace his steps. He’d taken a few days off for his final exams and he was finding it hard to adjust back to his daily life. He hadn’t even set an alarm for this morning but still he’d woken at 7 on the dot, he hoped that wouldn’t continue for too long, he missed sleep.

Still unable to find his shirt he walked down stairs into the tiny kitchen of his shared apartment, a small breath left him as he saw his shirt on the airer. Selina must have washed it for him, she wasn’t the sort to do it out of the kindness of her own heart and he didn’t remember asking her to, maybe she’d picked it up by accident.

Well, at least it was clean.

He glanced around to check all the curtains were closed before taking off his pyjama shirt and pulling on his work shirt, frowning a little at how much tighter it felt now.

Every time he studied for an exam he gained weight, a noticeable amount. He didn’t have time to cook for himself so he would have pre-made food every day for every meal, take-away if he could afford it. So for almost the whole past week he’d lived on pizzas, ramen, and Chinese food, with fizzy energy drinks on top of that. He was looking forward to his break at work; having the opportunity to eat a salad. He had such a craving for cherry tomatoes.

He sucked his gut in a little and looked at himself in the mirror, it didn’t look as bad as it felt.

After a moment of assessing himself he straightened himself up and walked to the door, he picked his keys and a stray cat toy out of his shoes and put them on, throwing the cat toy over his shoulder and putting the keys in his bag, then slinging the bag over his shoulder.

Selina had started her shift at the café a few hours earlier, Harvey faintly remembered hearing her leave the house as he got up. Hopefully when Harvey got there it wouldn’t be so busy that Selina hadn’t been able to clean up after herself, but not so quiet that she’d done everything and Harvey would be left bored that evening.

Unfortunately, as Harvey approached the café he could see the place was deserted. He let out an almost angry huff: he’d taken extra shifts in the run up to Christmas but there wasn’t really any extra work to do, it was such a waste of time. He really needed a better job.

The bell on the door rang as he entered, smiling to himself, he noticed that at the noise Selina’s head had jerked up. She was desperate for something to do.

“Oh, it’s you,” she said, her head drooping back down to what must be her phone on the counter, just out of sight.

“Is it really that dead?” Harvey asked, smiling and walking to the entrance of the back room, dropping his bag behind the door.

Selina nodded, “You’re maybe the fourth person to come through that door… We may as well be closed.”

Harvey joined her behind the counter, “Does anything need doing?”

Selina shook her head, “I’ve done absolutely everything that needs to be done, do you think I’d be on youtube if there were still things to do?”

Harvey frowned; of course she would, she was subscribed to multiple big cat and rescue animal channels, he knew she’d drop everything to watch anything they uploaded. He turned and walked into the back room, taking it in for a moment. Everything seemed to be stacked and put away correctly. It couldn’t hurt to double check everything though, Harvey was a fan of double checking.

He went into the office and picked up the cleaning check list off the side. He looked over the sheet, front and back, everything had been checked off, Selina really had done everything, she’d even made a note of all the stock that needed replacing.

“Hey Harv,” Selina shouted from the front.

Harvey poked his head out the door, “What?”

“Come sit out here while I do the stock input.”

Harvey rolled his eyes, “Fine…” he put down the sheet and walked back out to the front. Pulling his phone out of his pocket with the intention of searching for another job. Something about searching for a job while at your present job just felt right...

There didn’t seem to be much up at the moment. Hopefully soon all the temporary holiday jobs would pop up and he could take one of them.

He quickly hid away his phone as he heard the door open, looking up to give a smile to what he assumed was a customer.

A man walked in, a regular, Harvey strained to remember his name. He’d been working here for so long that all the customers’ names blurred together. This man came in every day and had done for at least as long as Harvey had worked there.

Edward, the name jumped into his head.

“Edward,” Harvey said as softly and kindly as the empty 6-hour shift in front of him would let him.

Edward smiled at him, “Yes, uh,” he looked at Harvey’s name badge through his tinted glasses, “Harvey. I’ll have a caramel latte, please.” He pulled out a brown piece of card and handed it to Harvey. “This one should be free?”

He said it as if it were a question, but he was a regular customer and they’d had the stamp system for at least 3 years so he had to know how it worked.

“That’s right,” Harvey said, keeping the same smile on his face. He turned to the coffee machine and began preparing the drink, he poured some syrup in the bottom of a cup and began steaming some milk.

“It’s not very busy today,” Edward mused, a soft tone to his voice as he looked around.

Harvey shook his head, “Pretty dead, yeah… I’m not sure why, it’s usually quiet Thursdays but my co-worker says we’ve not even had a breakfast rush today.”

Edward frowned a little, “I hope things pick up again soon, I’d hate for this place to go under.”

Harvey let out a small huff as he finished up Edwards coffee, “We both know that’ll never happen. I’ll probably work here till I die.”

Edward gave Harvey an odd and almost worried look at the statement, he smiled weakly and took the coffee, pausing for a moment. “Wait…” He put the coffee down and reached into his pocket, pulling out a handful of money and dumping it in the tip jar, giving Harvey a small nod as he picked up his coffee and made his way out.

Harvey looked down at the tip jar, his eyes widening; Edward had left several 10 dollar bills.

“Whoa…” he said quietly. He looked over his shoulder “Hey Selina, look at this!” he gave a soft chuckle.

Harvey poured the money from the tip jar out onto the counter, counting it out. $97, that guy had given them $97?

“Nice,” Selina’s voice came from behind him, “Looks like we can get groceries on the way home.” She smirked, “She must have liked how tight your shirt is.”

Harvey looked up at her and shook his head, “No it was uh, that Edward guy? Ginger business guy?”

Selina frowned, “What? I never get so much as a hello from him…” she leaned up against the counter and smirked, “You know he pays with a black credit card, right? To him this is literally just pocket change.” She shook her head, shovelling the notes back into the jar, “These rich guys are so up themselves it’s sickening.”

Harvey shrugged and shook his head, “I understand that… But we’re benefiting. I think he felt bad for us.”

Selina rolled her eyes, “Ugh, pity? That’s even worse.”

Harvey let out a soft huff, chewing his lip. “I’ll get groceries on the way home and then we’ll go out with the rest.”

Selina leant an arm against the counter, “And get one $2 beer each? I’m good. Just get better food.”

“I’d rather have a $2 beer than spend more money on food.” He shifted uncomfortably on his feet. He hadn’t been out to do anything fun in ages, since before he started prepping for finals. He needed to go out soon, blow off some steam.

He struggled to remember a time when he wasn’t either bored at work or rushed off his ass at school. It was a metronome of stress and he was sure if things didn’t mellow out soon he’d have a heart attack.

“I’ll go by myself,” he remarked, emphasising with a shrug.

“Yeah? Maybe you’ll make a new friend,” Selina smirked. She patted the counter with her hand, turning away, “I’m going to get back to doing stock input.”

Harvey shook his head weakly and rolled his eyes to no one’s benefit but his own as Selina walked away. He let out a slow sigh of boredom, and turned his attention to the coffee machine, he took his time cleaning it, taking apart the nozzle and cleaning it with a bottle brush in order to make the task take a few extra minutes.

After that he returned to job hunting, but even that was a finite task. Soon he found himself looking over jobs that he’d seen the day before, the week before…

6 hours of this…

Usually when he got to this point he’d begin watching youtube on his phone, but he’d been working for under an hour and he didn’t want to resort to youtube this soon into his shift. He’d use up all the videos he’d saved. He decided to give the floor a sweep and mop, really get into the corners and clean the skirting board.

After a little over an hour of boredom, by the time he’d gotten through a little over half of the mopping, the bell on the door rang again, the sound made him jump and spill soapy water everywhere.

“Shit,” he muttered to himself, his stomach clenching as he realised he’d sworn in front of a customer.

He looked up, his eyes wide and his mouth open ready to apologise. After seeing who it was he closed his mouth.

“Did you just swear?” Bruce said, his arms crossed, an eyebrow raised in judgement.

“I won’t answer that,” Harvey huffed, turning his eyes back to the mess he’d made on the floor, mopping it up before turning his attention back to his friend. “What is it that you want?”

“I’m on my break,” Bruce shrugged, walking over to the counter, looking at the muffins behind the glass shield. After a moment his eyes moved from the muffins to the tip jar. “Whoa,” he gasped, “What happened here?”

“Rich guy emptied his pockets,” Harvey said, leaning the mop up against the wall and walking back behind the counter.

“We all going out tomorrow night then?” Bruce asked.

“ _I’m_ going out,” Harvey emphasised, he shrugged, beginning to make Bruce his usual; a tuna melt panini and a salted caramel latte, “If you wanna come you can.”

“If I’m not called in to work again,” Bruce jabbed his thumb over his shoulder, gesturing towards his workplace across the road.

“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting to see you here today,” Harvey remarked, glancing over his shoulder at Bruce as he made his drink.

Bruce shrugged, pouting, “Internships, man. If I want the reference then I gotta be at their beck and call.”

Harvey rolled his eyes, “But you’re Bruce Wayne.”

“Yeah, and that doesn’t mean shit unless I can prove myself, Harv. People think I’m there just because of my name and they’re harder on me for it.” He let out a huff, cutting himself off, “Sorry. Pisses me off.”

Harvey held up a hand, excusing Bruce’s apology, “It’s fine. Everyone has issues. If you wanna complain Selina’s out the back, you know how much she likes to bitch about rich people.”

Bruce considered it, and then shook his head, “I’ll take my food and get back. Don’t want them yelling at me for _slacking off_.”

Harvey nodded, taking the panini out of the press and putting it in a little box, ringing him up. Bruce pressed his phone to the card machine. It bleeped, and then a second later beeped again.

“That’ll be them,” Bruce growled, taking his drink and his food, walking out of the café without another word.

“Bye then,” Harvey huffed. He rolled his eyes again and began to clean the panini press and the coffee machine.

“You know if you keep rolling your eyes like that they’ll fall out your head,” Selina’s voice came from the door to the back room.

Harvey glanced over at her, then huffed and returned to cleaning as if he hadn’t heard her.

“I thought I heard you talking to someone?” Selina said, looking at Harvey and then at the register. “Another hot rich guy leave a tip?”

Harvey shook his head, “Nah, it was just Bruce.”

“Oh,” Selina said, her voice dropping a little in boredom, “Should have recognised his bitchy whining.” She drummed her fingers on the doorframe before heading back into the office.

Harvey let out a small hiss, “Oh my god, why don’t you just fuck him already…” he mumbled.

“What was that?” Selina shouted through the door.

“I said I hate this job!” Harvey yelled back. He focused himself on cleaning the grill, and the coffee machine, again taking apart the nozzle and cleaning that in depth too, and then finishing mopping the floor. Taking his time doing it all, making sure everything was sparkling.

He looked at the clock, having finished his small list of tasks. He still had 4 and a half hours left.

He let out another deep sigh, feeling the weight of tedium pressing down on him. He felt he was wasting his life. At least Bruce was gaining experience, learning the names of people he would be working with throughout his life. What was Harvey doing here other than losing brain cells?

He leant against the counter, letting his mind begin to drift.


	2. Chapter 2

Harvey worked the same shifts every week, that wasn’t necessarily how it was supposed to be, but Selina preferred to do the early shift, and Harvey liked to sleep in. They’d tried to switch it up but with their hectic schedules they’d ended up forgetting who was meant to do which shift, and they’d gotten in trouble with the area manager.

He arrived at 12pm on the dot. Unlike the day before as he approached the door he could see a sea of people, he picked up the pace, speedwalking through the seating area and grabbing his apron.

“Thank god you’re here,” Selina said from the register, ringing up a customer while writing an order down in her notebook. “We’re backed up as fuck, make me coco frappes _right now_.”

Harvey gave a deliberate nod, taking a bottle of milk and a bag of ice from the fridge under the counter and beginning to make frappes.

Usually he liked making frappes, it was calming to watch the large hunks of ice break down to a sludge, watching the white milk turn brown. And he loved the smell of the syrup.

Today it was not so relaxing. He ended up making 7 coco frappes in a row, and then 9 espressos, while Selina made the food. He wasn’t as fond of making espressos, making one or two at a time was fine, but the strong smell over a long period of time, it overwhelmed him and made him feel a little sick.

After the rush finished, with all their patrons served, sitting down and enjoying themselves.

“What was that?” Harvey asked, growling softly under his breath, wiping off his hands and clicking his back.

Selina shook her head, fixing her hair. “I have no idea. I think they all work together though; they keep talking across the tables.”

“Maybe Bruce told all his workplace about us?” Harvey suggested.

Selina shook her head, “No, if that were the case Bruce would have been here picking up 16 drinks and 20 sandwiches. They wouldn’t have come in themselves.”

As Selina talked Harvey’s eyes drifted to the tip jar, and he felt every hair on him stand on end. Wordlessly he reached out to pick it up, looking inside it.

Selina grew quiet as she watched him. “Oh my god,” she said softly. She snatched the jar from him and stuck her hand in it, turning away from the seating areas so the customers didn’t see her counting up the notes. “Harvey there’s a hundred in here,” she said under her breath.

Harvey’s mouth lulled open. “Go out the back and count it,” he said quietly.

Selina nodded and slunk into the back.

Harvey felt himself smile. There was so much money in that jar. He looked over the crowded café. He’d never seen it this busy, it was weird.

The bell for the door rang, and Edward walked in. Harvey remembered his name without a struggle this time.

As he walked to the counter he smiled and gave nods of acknowledgment to some of the people at the tables.

He knew them? Did he get them to come in?

“Hi,” Harvey said, an inquisitive tone to his voice, as Edward reached him.

“Hello uh,” Edward paused for a moment to think, “…Harvey.”

Harvey gave a soft nod, smiling. “What would you like, Edward?” He tapped the buttons on the register, beginning to ring up a drink order.

“Salted caramel latte, please, and I’ll have a ham and cheese panini too.”

Harvey nodded and turned to begin making the drink, glancing over his shoulder to look at Edward as he moved from the coffee machine to the panini press. “Did you get these people in here?” he asked.

Edward shrugged, picking at his nails as he waited for his lunch, “I mentioned it was good and that they should come down, I didn’t expect them all here, though.” He looked across at them, then back at Harvey, “It wasn’t an order, but they seem to have taken it as one.”

“They work for you?” Harvey couldn’t stop himself from asking.

Edward let out a soft hum of affirmation. “At AceTech, across the street.”

Harvey raised his eyebrows, giving a soft nod. Acetech was the direct competitor to Wayntech, where Bruce was working. He finished up the panini, pushing it into the cardboard takeout sleeve and putting the order on the counter. His and Edward’s eyes locked for a moment. “Well, thankyou for bringing us some business,” Harvey said politely, trying to pretend that a huge busy rush while you were short staffed wasn’t just as bad as having no customers at all.

“Hopefully some of them will come back tomorrow,” Edward said happily. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few notes, he paused, glancing over the counter, “You not taking tips anymore?” he asked, his voice pitching a little.

“Oh,” Harvey half gasped, fidgeting for a second as he thought of something to tell him, “Uh, the jar smashed,” he fibbed. He took a large plastic cup and put it on the counter, “There, if you wanted to leave a tip.”

Edward looked down at the cup, and then back up at Harvey, “I heard recently,” he said thoughtfully, “That in some places they make you share your tips with the other staff and the managers. Is it like that here?”

“Uh,” Harvey looked down at the money in his hand, “No, at the end of the day we split the tips between whoever was on the shift. So, today, whatever you put in the pot will go to me and Selina.”

Edward let out a soft hum, and then held his hand out to Harvey, urging him to take the money from his hand. “This is just for you.”

Harvey frowned, “Oh, no, sir, I can’t do that, Selina would kill me,” he barked out an awkward fake laugh.

Edward shook his hand slightly, “You sure?” He held his hand out for another moment, before shrugging and putting the money in the cup.

“We live together, so it benefits us both,” Harvey explained.

Edward gave a slow nod, “Oh,” he cleared his throat, forcing a smile and giving the counter a soft pat before picking up his lunch. “That must be a strain on your relationship, working together and living together?”

Harvey shrugged, “We both have our own space, it’s not that bad.”

Edward let out a hum, giving a small nod of acknowledgement. He flashed a soft smile at him and walked over to sit near the door, at what was probably the only free table left.

He seemed almost disappointed, Harvey frowned to himself, maybe he wanted some gossip on the drama of working in a coffee shop. He was confused as to why Edward was talking to him now. Why he’d invited his coworkers here, and had suddenly started leaving tips. He’d been a regular for years, coming in almost every weekday, he’d never tried to talk to him before other than hellos and thankyous.

He watched as he ate his food and drank his drink. He kept glancing over at him, the previously happy look on his face had soured a little.

He was pulled away from himself by Selina stage-whispering from the door to the back room.

“Hey!” she hissed, her voice filled with excitement.

“How much?” he asked.

“Three hundred and fifty four,” she said slowly, practically dancing.

“Holy-“ Harvey began loudly, stifling himself as he realised a few heads had turned towards them, Edwards being one of them.

He forced himself to still, nodding slowly. “Very good,” he said, politely. He dropped his voice a little, “There’s more on the counter already, too.”

“What the fffuucckk?” Selina hissed, clasping her hands together.

Harvey shook his head, “I truly have no idea.” He turned back to look over their patrons, a slight swell in his chest, his eyes rested on Edward for a second. “I think it might be something to do with him,” he said quietly.

“Who?” Selina said, confused.

“That Edward guy, from yesterday,” Harvey explained, “He works with most of these people.”

“Really?” Selina said, she walked forward, patting the counter with one hand as she passed. “I should thank him,” she purred.

Harvey let out a soft chuckle, “Alright,” he said as he watched her walk over. He turned to begin cleaning the coffee machine and the panini press. He felt as if that was what he spent most of his time doing here.

God, he wanted to quit.

He wanted to quit so bad.

He glanced back over at Selina, watching her try to flirt with Edward.

He was looking at her curiously, and kept glancing over at Harvey. Their eyes met and Edward raised his eyebrows deliberately, his eyes widening a little.

Harvey felt a smile ghost his face. He got the feeling that Edward wasn’t enjoying the conversation.

He wiped off his hands and walked across the shop, sidestepping to avoid a couple of the patrons who weren’t paying attention to anything around them. He slid in next to Selina, leaning up against the wall.

“Selina, you’ve got a message in the office,” he said softly.

Selina frowned, crossing her arms, “Can’t you deal with it?” she sneered, shifting a little to put herself between Harvey and Edward.

“No, they ask for you specifically,” Harvey smiled.

Selina rolled her eyes and huffed, glaring at Harvey before walking off.

“You ok, sir?” Harvey asked, his customer service smile coming instinctively to his face.

Edward nodded, “Yes, thankyou,” he cleared his throat, shifting on his seat, he opened his mouth to talk, but then stopped, forcing a smile.

Harvey felt his stomach tense a little, “If there’s anything wrong please let me know, sir,” he said dutifully. He paused for a moment before leaving, Edward obviously wanted to say something, Harvey couldn’t think why he was stopping himself.

“Well I…” Edward began. He let out a soft huff, “It’s not really my place, but your girlfriend was uh, flirting with me.”

Harvey frowned, “My…” he glanced over his shoulder to look at Selina, and then looked back at Edward. “Edward… Sir, Selina’s not my girlfriend,” he said slowly, confusion heavy in his voice.

“Oh,” Edward squeaked, frowning, “I thought you said, uh,” he shook his head, his face turning red with embarrassment. “Nevermind, then.”

Harvey smiled weakly, “Should I send her back over?” he asked, happily, a sly tone to his voice.

“No!” Edward squeaked again, the word almost a yelp. He cleared his throat again, “Don’t do that. I’m uh… She’s nice and all but uh, not my…” his eyes flit over Harvey, a nervousness in his smile, “My _type_.”

“Yeah?” Harvey said, glancing back towards the counter, where Selina stood, glaring at him, “Not mine either.” He glanced back at Edward, “I prefer redheads,” he shrugged.

Edward let out a soft, nervous sounding chuckle.

“If you need anything else you just let us know, ok,” he smiled again, giving the table a soft pat before walking back over to Selina.

“What was that for?” Selina hissed at him, slapping a cleaning cloth against the counter. “I totally had an in there.”

“You were crowding him,” Harvey hissed back. “He wasn’t into you, he said you’re not his type.”

Selina nodded slowly, rolling her eyes, “Oh, right.”

Harvey frowned, “What do you mean ‘oh right’?”

“Racist,” Selina stated.

“What?” Harvey scoffed.

“He’s a racist, obviously,” Selina sneered, frowning in Edward’s direction.

Harvey frowned, “Then why’s he tipping us? No one who works here is white.”

“Oh,” Selina’s eyes widened. “Not racist, then. Gay.”

“What?”

“He started tipping because you came in in a tight shirt, he’s not into me, he’s gay, and he likes you,” Selina explained.

Harvey shook his head, “What?” he said, half laughing. “You can’t just assume someone’s gay because they’re not into you. You’re not that hot, Selina.”

“I am super hot,” Selina smirked. “And he’s super gay. I bet he just broke up with someone and now he’s on the prowl for a sugar baby.”

Harvey shook his head again, raising his hand, “Stop it, I swear to god.”

“Like you wouldn’t do it?” Selina said, her voice getting more playful with every comment. “Take him a free brownie. Ride this tip train to the station.”

Harvey shook his head, “Don’t say it like that. I will not take him a free brownie. I’m not playing into this.” He shook his head, turning back to the coffee machine and beginning to make himself a hot chocolate. “I’m going on a short break so I can avoid your… I don’t know what this is you’re doing,” he cocked his head, smiling, “And I don’t care.”

Selina scoffed, “Fine, whatever, I’ll see you in 5 minutes.”

Harvey stilled a little, realising that if he left Selina would be left alone with Edward, she could go up and talk to him and he’d have no idea. “Seeing as it’s so busy,” he said slowly, “I’m going to sit out with the customers, that way if there’s another rush I can jump in to help.”

“Ew,” Selina sneered, “Go on then.”

Harvey nodded, smiling. He took his drink and looked around the seating area, struggling to see any spare tables.

The only one he could see was the one opposite Edward, the other side of the door. What would Selina think if he were to sit there? What if she was right and Edward was interested in him? What would Edward think if he sat opposite?

He let out a soft huff, closing his eyes and pushing away those thoughts. He focussed on his phone and his drink instead. He hadn’t been paying attention to what syrup he’d put into his drink, and wasn’t exactly happy to find it was mint, but he wasn’t going to go back and make another one.

He scrolled through the jobs, seeing what had popped up since the previous day. There were a few part time jobs, nothing too interesting, nothing that paid better than this job, although there was a job going with AceTech, that caught his eye.

He glanced back up, saw that in the few minutes since he’d sat down Edward had gotten up and left. The empty cup and cardboard sandwich sleeve still sat on his table. How inconsiderate. He looked over towards Selina, and saw she was with a customer. He gave his head a soft shake and stood up, leaning over to move the trash onto his table.

He frowned; there was a number scrawled in pen on the cardboard packaging.

“Selina,” Harvey said loudly, disregarding the customers.

Selina looked back at him from the panini press.

He held up the cardboard sleeve, his eyes wide. “I… Uh, I think you were right.”

**Author's Note:**

> So I actually started writing this a couple of years ago, but it never went anywhere, but since we're in lockdown rn I've been trying to, uh, write more, and I found this again and I've fallen back in love with this idea. Please tell me what you think!


End file.
